It's the correct move but man you gotta feel for Will. On the bright side for him there's probably many ascendant teams that would value him as an awper or an entry and is probably one of the better jett/raze players not in franchising na. Saya and Babybay are the only guys who I'm not confident about getting into franchising that I'd prefer to have as my entry but not chamber duelist.

Well objectively are dephh and Valyn whove made LAN's so far this year not just better? Like ok NRG was a top 6 team without a star but does that really outweigh how good Valyn or dephh have built up their teams since last year?

IMO Ethan is still better than V1c and Zekken should be there instead of Zellsis for their main targets. Zekken>Zellsis on entry and he plays initiators better. I love Zellsis but Zekken, who wont be on c9 and 100T, should be the top target for NRG. Dicey I like and Chet I like but keeping Hazed instead of Valyn, FNS, or Dephh would be a mistake. Add Valyn instead and keep Ethan and the comps make sense more, are better, and would make more sense role wise.

Ya if I was doing overall flex over multiple roles Jonahp would be higher, guys like bang would be here, jawgemo, moose and zekken would also have spots but rn I think of specifically their play on initiators Asuna trumps the other two.

Ethan has just as wide an agent pool but plays kay/o and skye at a for sure higher level and though he didn't play it much this year we know his sage is top tier. If we're talking overall flexibility jonahp is above the others mentioned but I'll take Ethan's kayo skye breach over Jonahp's, alongside that EEIU and c0m are top tier on breach(they might be the 2 best in NA with his utility and self sufficiency) play really good sovas and fade, EEIU is obv above c0m on those agents but IMO they're so good at the 3 they play more than the 3 jonah plays. Again though this is a subjective list and I think after my top 4 I'm up for argument.

I understand that but the difference is Asuna played his majority of the games on those initiators, while also adding fade to his agent pool. Nismo only played Kay/o as an initiator this year, and Zekken played the majority of his games as an entry even though he does play kayo and sova. At this point they're all flexs but Asuna is for sure more of an "initiator player" than zekken and nismo are.

Nismo only plays Raze and Kayo, which he's insane at both at don't get me wrong I think he and asuna are the best raze/kayo players in na, but he only played those two so I can't put him as an overall initiator He also plays skye but hasn't shown it in a while and in general is just an entry that plays kayo as a duelist.

he's top 5 in rounds played in t1 na games on kayo and skye, as well as having played fade before derrek took it up on 100t. He plays 3 initiators at a proficient and t1 level, he def deserves to be on the list even if he's also insane at raze.

IMO he's a jack of all trades player but as a pure initiator doesn't jump off the page on any agent apart from breach and sage who isn't an initiator. His kay/o and skye are fine but IMO subpar, and his stats are inflated by him playing a bit of duelist/chamber for TGRD this year. Having lan experience is a big plus but if you notice most of the guys above him are all good fade players which he hasn't shown. If he develops a good fade alongside his Lan experience he's def t1 level, but IMO he's best suited as a 6th man on a team rn.

Also gonna add my own comment but I think people are really underrating moose. He was SR's only good player apart from Bdog to close out the year and has been insane ever since shifting over to full time smokes(IMO is a top 5 viper and brim in NA, he just hasn't played astra and has less time on omen than the avg controller but in his little time playing it he has been good.

Personal order for me

First Tier: Trent
Second Tier: Crashies Xeppaa Derrek
Third Tier: BcJ EEIU Asuna Ethan
Fourth Tier: c0m
fifth tier: jonahp (this 10th spot was hard, was also thinking effys, genghsta or sick as HM but jonahp has a shit ton of flexibility)

IMO the first 3 tiers should be locks for franchsiing, c0m and jonahp also IMO deserve it with the 6th man rules coming in.

Zander
Skuba
Moose(he's a controller sentinel flex but atm it seems like hes leaning towards controller)
Supamen
aproto

IMO it seems obvious that Vanity and Valyn for IGLing and Marved and Bang for being insane are going to be 4/5 franchised controllers, but who of these 5 would you most want as the 5th controller in franchising?

Zander had a higher peak as an IGL but he lost his spot as his teams igl by the time V1 was competing again at full strength. I also think Dazzle and Poised run very different styles but poised has done better and for a longer time with his teams.

He's probably like 6-7th best, id still comfortably put FNS Dephh Stellar Valyn Vanity Poised over him

if they kept s0m instead of Zekken it would be a tragedy.

I'd argue that he is def still a t1 player, he just might not be in the best region for his playstyle. Non sova/fade initators are big in EU and APAC but in NA teams rarely run them. IMO Ethan is still a top 10 initator player and deserves to at least be on NRG or EG. I really don't see who is an upgrade over him. He isn't a high acs kind of player, i believe he avg abt 200, but when it comes to initators most teams will run two, and I doubt he will be left out. IMO the initators above him are
Trent, Crashies, Derrek, EEIU, BcJ, Xeppaa, Zekken, Asuna, sick*
So there's for sure a group above him IMO, but that's 8 players and most teams will run with 2. I think Trent and Xeppaa end up on c9, Derrek and Asuna 100T, Zekken and EEIU on NRG, leaving SEN and EG with BcJ Crashies and Ethan all needing teams. In that case , he at worst screams a 6th man to me.

• will he play?

Trent or Marved make more sense than Zekken. I'm fairly sure he's gonna go to NRG

Mazino for Adverso would be huge but Delz1k isn't franchising level, IMO they're better off trying to grab an underrated guy and coach him up around a more experienced team, similar to what they did with shyy. Possibly Fross from Sunxet or Darker who played on Fusion in LCQ? Bandicoot from EXL is also a shout but unfortunately either they'll have to pick up delz1k, get a Spanish speaking controller which is thin in LATAM, or convert someone Mak0 style to the role

Dicey
Zekken
EEIU
Valyn/FNS
Ethan/a controller player like marved supamen zander
s0m as the 6th

IMO they are best off for sure with the first 3, and if they do get Valyn then keep Ethan, but if they get FNS grab a controller player. s0m IMO is the perfect sixth man(similar to sick or dapr in my eyes) as he is big for content and plays a ton of different agents so he can sub in(has plenty of experience on 3 duelits, 2 controllers, 2 initiators and sage as well as a little bit of chamber neon and reyna) if need be for meta. Also a guy that probably isn't T1 level rn but could use some learning time under a better IGL(when you think abt it he's never had a great IGl, Daps was good but has more of a mind for CSGO and Hazed was fine but that's abt it)

My guess is
Jawgemo(Aspas role of Raze Jett Chamber)
Victor( same as usual)
Crashies(same as usual)
Dephh (IGL playing all three non duelist roles)
A mix of a few possible players, either Ethan if NRG doesn’t keep him, Wippie or Moose if they want a true sentinel, or someone like Zander or Supamen or Skuba as a true smokes player with Dephh playing other agents.

I think Babybay ends up being the best player who doesn’t make ascension. In my eyes teams will prefer zekken, Jawgemo, Victor, leaf, zellsis and Asuna for the primary entry spots. I think sen zellsis and NRG zekken will happen and eg will either keep Jawgemo or grab Victor or both

Wippie, Moose, and Dapr(maybe mitch in there) are the only really good true sentinels left in na, and it looks like Moose is starting to play controller more anyway

All but 1 of those chamber performances were really good lol, ur actively hurting ur argument. He's avg about 200 acs on support agents as well which is also great

The filter is set to 1700 or higher, if you switch it to 1800 he actually has a better acs. That argument is completely untrue.

His 3 raze games were against NYFU, Soniqs, and Virtuoso. I'm sorry but who cares if he puts up 280 ACS against those teams. Even his all time stats aren't impressive, especially compared to Asuna, Nismo, Jawgemo, etc. If you're going to make a franchised team you need to be top 5 on your role, and there's for sure about 10 guys better than him on raze. Even if you wanna do all time rankings, his raze is still not that impressive, especially when he's putting up the same fragging numbers on skye and fade. https://www.vlr.gg/stats/?event_group_id=all&event_id=all&region=na&country=all&min_rounds=200&min_rating=1800&agent=raze&map_id=all&timespan=all

Musashi is by far the most underrated player. Has only gotten better every tournament he's played in, and despite BIG being really bad all year he performed crazy crazy well.
https://www.vlr.gg/stats/?event_group_id=14&event_id=all&region=eu&country=all&min_rounds=126&min_rating=1700&agent=chamber&map_id=all&timespan=all

Obviously smaller sample size for him but he averages 270 acs and nearly 1.5 kd with top tier FKPR. Guy is absurdly good on a bad team and didn't even get the chance to play LCQ. I'm afraid that because BIG didn't get a spot he won't be added to a team in franchising, when he def deserves it. IMO the only awpers better are derke ardiis sayf chronicle and jamppi, but after that you can argue Musashi is the next best. Hopefully he gets his shot but he plays 3 4/5 initiators(his breach and sova stats are also crazy impressive) and all duelists and deserves a spot on a franchised team.

My problem is FNC has a tendency to gameplan really well(which i give him) but he might be the worst coach at adjusting to the other team. I feel like when Onur hits a pause the next two rounds they go off, I never felt that way about Mini

I hate to say it but his Raze is not good lol
https://www.vlr.gg/stats/?event_group_id=14&event_id=all&region=na&country=all&min_rounds=100&min_rating=1800&agent=raze&map_id=all&timespan=all
Raze was c9's biggest single character weakness all year. Leaf and Xeppaa both sucked at it, and guys like Zellsis, Zekken, Victor were notably better. His Kayo is comfortably top 10 NA(Not Asuna Nismo Zekken level but still great) and his Skye and Fade were statistically the best in NA. My guess is he also picks up sova, breach, and sage a bit more next year as well.

Trent+Zekken clears every other team in NA

d00mbros, Engh, Barbar are probably top 3. I don't really rate Mini that much honestly and Engh is still awesome IMO

u mean -breeze +split

I think its more likely they keep stellar and get Yay for Will

He's within a group of the top 5 awpers, IMO Derke clears the group(at least domestically because Ardiis is better on LAN). IMO after there's a pretty solid group of Ardiis, Sayf, Chronicle, Jamppi(my personal order). Ardiis is probably the best Jett of that group(Sayf and Derke r close behind) but in general I'd say those are the top 3. He for sure deserves a top team to sign him, it seems like Jamppi and Derke r staying put, and FPX will prob get fully picked up. IMO it would be best for Sayf or Chronicle to be headline stars on teams like KOI, Vitality, or Heretics that are huge clout orgs that need a rebuild. If you can't poach ardiis then the other two should be every teams top priority.

Xeppaa is best at Fade Skye Kayo and will likely play a role similar to Stax since he's significantly better at initiators than duelist
Zellsis is better at Raze, Neon, Kayo and likely the sentinel role who will probably play more aggro. It would probably be like FNC where alfajer plays entry and sentinel and Mistic was a full time initiator.

I mean the roles match up almost perfectly, C9 needs another initiator alongside Xeppaa and an entry with Leaf likely awping a bit more. The obvious problem is the sentinel role but leaf and crashies could probably take that over. Personally i'd prefer zekken and trent but the OPTIC boys would also be good.

Even tho most of this list I don't agree on I do like that you actually put one out there which most people who will insult it can't say the same for

Seven is a tier below a lot of awpers, you'd still take

Yay, Cryo, Dicey, Leaf, Bdog, Tenz, Koala, Penny, Boostio, Will, Saya, and Ban

Over him, that's 12 players and franchising is 5 NA teams. There is no reason any of TSM should realistically make franchising, but gMd might have an argument

EEIU is a top 4 sova/fade in NA behind trent crashies and derrek

HAHAHAHA good b8

Why have Tex when Dicey Yay and Cryo exist, or even Bdog lol

Add Trent and Zekken. In 2022 Leaf looked better on awping than entry and Xeppaa is better as a straight initiator. Trent is chill with those guys and is a top 3 best initiator player in the region. Zekken I don't need to introduce we know why they should get him.

Thank god they didn't keep Natank and H1ber around just for sentimental value lol. Now they can go get a high-powered duelist like Nukkye and an awper like Sayf and be golden.

They'd need a 6th man which is why I said the other two. They wouldn't replace Derrek and they won't get Trent who will be poached by a good team where he can start

I mean every team probably wants him. Fit wise SEN makes least sense because of Tenz likely wanting to AWP, money wise 100T makes a lot of sense and Will seems most likely to not stay and it allows Asuna to entry more while Yay full time Awps. Then they could keep stellar, sign another initiator player as their 6th(maybe Nismo or JonahP type player) and be stacked out of their mind.

I think it makes Nats more likely, having Redgar Nats Scream Nivera Jamppi as ur main lineup while also having Soulcas as a fade specialist sub

And it also alleviates any roster holes the players could bring. They're obviously two great players but you don't want either awping and you don't want either playing breach or sentinel agents, which worked awesome for FNS but if you go to a team who's IGL is Valyn for example, it's odd

With the teams now needing 6 people they could also just pick up someone like dapr, net or moose, or even re-sign mitch and have them sub in for a map or two.

https://twitter.com/brencasts/status/1572988628527349760?s=21&t=JnG2sJmDSZ42BYfqyRGcxg In this tweet from Bren you can see that Riot is requiring teams to have 6 man rosters, which is odd for many people to see and has had mixed reactions. IMO, this is actually the time where it most makes sense. The obvious reasons come with wanting franchised teams to have backups in case of illness, outside issues, etc, that wouldn't be able to be fixed because there aren't Acad teams. IMO, though, the best part about this is that teams will now have to build their rosters in a more forgiving way, and lets players in specialty roles have a lot more impact.

We all know that the game is moving away from having set in stone duelist, controller, sentinel and initiator, but even more than ever with the new changes there has become 6-7 Roles instead of 5. Most teams now want to have an
AWPER(Chamber, Jett) (Think Yay, Laz, cNed)
Entry(Raze, Neon, Jett, Kayo, Phoenix) (Zypaan, Victor, Jingg)
Controller(4 controllers and for some teams the ability to play kay/o or sage) (Marved, Pancada, sScary)
Support Initiator( Usually playing Sova/Fade as the main agents with the ability to flex to breach, viper, sage) (Enzo, Crashies, Sacy)
Aggro Initiator (Usually the primary Kay/o, Skye, Breach/fade player who will play sage as well) (Stax, Jonahp, Hoody)
Sentinel(KJ, Cypher, Viper, Usually also Sage and sometimes chamber) (Less, Suygetsu, Dapr)
IGL( doesn't really count as a role agent wise as they'll usually play one of the initiator, controller or sentinel flex roles) (FNS, Ange1, Saadhak)

The problem is that most teams had an obvious weakness in one of those roles (Loud didn't have a Yay typer Awper, their sentinel and entry had to mix between it.) (FNS had to play the initiator and sentinel roles for Optic) (FNC had to put alfajer on both entry and sentinel agents)

This now means teams can swap between agents and players based on maps and awpers don't have to be put on uncomfortable agents, or initiator players don't need to be on KJ when she becomes more meta.
The general idea would be to have great players at every position, but for maps like Ascent you swap in ur KJ player, or Bind swap out ur awper or an initiator for a viper player, or play with only one initiator on any of pearl, icebox or fracture. A possible team could look like

SEN
Tenz awper
Victor Entry
Sick smokes
Crashies intiator
Zellsis initiator
FNS Sentinel/Initiator IGL

This is obviously a rough sketch but this team could swap between zellsis, victor and tenz if need be and have them all on ONLY comfort picks.

FNC
Derke Awper
Trexx Entry
Boaster Smokes/IGL
Leo initiator
Sheydos initiator
Alfajer Sentinel/kinda entry

FNC is another one where you could swap in and out all of the players that aren't Boaster and Derke to find a good rotation, as Derke can awp and entry, Trexx can entry or play initator, Alfajer can entry or play sentinels. It gives the teams more diversity in their comps and makes subbing in an out an actual thing you can do on maps.

LMK what you think this was kind of a tangent but I love the idea of a sub, especially if it means you can develop a younger promising player in that place.

The only worry is who plays sentinels but I don't doubt leaf would be willing to flex over if they had to play a Jett and sentinel comp

Stellar is a better IGL than Zander and anyone who disagrees is dumb. I don't care if he frags better than Stellar, Zander is still less valuable than Stellar unless he can prove to be as good of an IGL